Au Temps Pour Moi
by Rinou
Summary: It read: "I mark the hours every one, Nor have I yet outrun the Sun. My use and Value, unto you, are gauged by what you have to do." But what was she to do? She couldn't do anything. Or could she…?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone.**

**To start with , PLEASE please pretty please read this! It could save up for a lot of disappointment!**

**I'm french! Not something that would be of any interest for you, EXCEPT that english is therefore not my native language, and as okay I'm with its grammar rules, I'm not quite good enough for my english to be perfect.**

**So that's why I'm looking for a Beta-Reader to help me with the idiomatic quality of my text. Mostly. Maybe some advices on the Harry Potter world would be useful too, but that's not my first priority.**

**I did send a few (more than a few, actually) PM to registered Beta, but none actually answered, and the one that did answered me have been silent for the last two weeks. So please contact me if you feel up to the task! I'm only asking for a native english speaking person, who could help me out on what is not proper to english language in my texts. I'm not saying it won't take long, but I will myself take some time to wrote the whole story, so it's not a matter of a weekly update.**

**Please consider it! And PM me if you have any questions!**

**Here is the first chapter, to let you see the extent of what is expecting those interested!**

Also, while I'm at it... Some of you (well, probably all of you) will notice some likeliness with J.K. Rowling text. I did use part of her own text to base my own fanfiction. Meaning I actually took sentences she wrote to do this one chapter. My aim is not to copy her. I just wish to make my fiction as one of the hypothetic possible 'ending' hers could have been. I'm not saying those lines belong to me. They do not. They're just the foundation I'm working on the build my own story. I hope you'll understand!

**_Bonne lecture!_  
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**Chapter 1**

They hadn't expected it to go wrong. Well, maybe she did, but not that wrong.

The Death Eaters had trapped them, and in their haste to escape from them, they had taken different directions. Being separated meant nothing good, in Hermione's mind, but she had no time to ponder on it, as she had run, fast, faster, always faster, all the while cursing their opponents.

Sealing the door behind them, the three gryffindors took a few moments to breath in, watching each other in the eyes, fear and worry haunting them, both Neville and Hermione waiting for Harry's decision.

-Lets' get away from this door, he offered as the voices, or more precisely, the yells from the Death Eaters echoed from behind them.

They ran as quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, towards the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when they heard something large and heavy collide with the door she had charmed shut.

And soon, Death Eaters were entering the room, looking for them, rough voices shouting to each others, the three of them ducking behind a desk, their mind searching for a way out of it. When the knees of the Death Eaters got closer, far to close to be safe, Harry leapt from behind the desk, his wand straight in front of him.

-STUPEFY! he shouted, aiming at both the Death Eaters.

While the nearest one was struck by the red light, knocking him backward in a grandfather clock, the seconde one managed to avoid the spell, immediately pointing his own wand at Hermione, who was crawling away from the desk, to get a better aim. She merely had the time to hear the beginning of the Unforgivable Curse incantation, that Harry threw himself across the floor to grab the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned a desk in his anxiety to help and pointed his wand wildly at the struggling pair.

-EXPELLIARMUS! he cried

Both Harry's and the Death Eater's wands flew out of their hand and soared back towards the entrance of the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to their feet and charged after them, the Death Eater in front, Harry hot on his heels, and Neville bringing up the rear, plainly horrorstruck by what the had done.

-Get out of the way, Harry, yelled Neville, clearly determined to repair the damage.

Hermione watched helplessly as Harry flung himself sideways, Neville taking aim again.

-STUPEFY! he shouted, in a trembling voice.

The jet of red light flew right over the Death Eater's shoulder and hit a glass-fronted cabinet on the wall full of variously shaped hour-glasses; the cabinet fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere, sprang back up on to the wall, fully mended, then fell down again, and shattered.

The Death Eater had snatched up his wand, which lay on the floor beside the glittering bell jar. She saw Harry duck down behind another desk as the man turned; his mask had slipped so that he couldn't see. He ripped it off with his free hand and started to shout.

-STUPEFY! screamed Hermione, as she just caught up with Harry and Neville.

The jet of red light hit the Death Eater in the middle of his chest: he froze, his arm still raised, his wand fell to the floor with a flatter and he collapsed backwards towards the bell jar. Even though a clunk was expected, for the man to hit solid glass, it never came, and instead of sliding off the jar onto the floor, his head sank through the surface of the bell jar as though it were nothing but a soap bubble and he came to rest, sprawled on his back on the table, with his head lying inside the jar full of glittering wind.

-Accio wand! cried Hermione.

Harry's wand flew from a dark corner into her hand, and she threw it to him.

-Thanks, he said to her. Right, let's get out of…

But he was interrupted by Neville horrified cry, who was now staring at the Death Eater's head in the bell jar.

She immediately raised her wand, as did Harry, but none of them struck: they were all gazing, open-mouther, appalled, at what was happening to the man's head. It was shrinking very fast, growing balder and balder, the black had and stubble retracting into his skull; his cheeks becoming smooth, his skull round and covered in a peach like fuzz…

A baby's head now sat grotesquely on top of the thick muscled neck of the Death Eater as he struggled to get up again; but even as they watched, theirs mouths open, the head began to swell to its previous proportions again; thick black hair was sprouting from the pate and chin…

-It's Time, said Hermione in an awestruck voice. Time…

The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to clear it, but before he could pull himself together, it began to shrink back to babyhood once more…

There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash and a scream.

They took it as their cue to go, fast, as they could hear the the footsteps growing louder, the jet of the spells struck by the incoming Deaths Eaters illuminating the room in colors that did not augur no good. As she dived to avoid one's tiny headed Death Eater spell, a glitter caught her eyes, and she stayed a few seconds close to the floor, hesitating, before seizing in a fluid movement the little objet, and flying away, following Harry and Neville towards the door, leading back into the black hallway.

The rest, as they said, was History. Before succeeding in completing the spell to lock the door, it had burst open, and Death Eaters had come hurtling inside. The fight had gone on. At some point, she had been struck, and had fainted, since she had awoken later on, in Hogwart Hospital Wing, lulled by the voice of Madam Pomfrey, attending Neville, Luna and the other. She had heard in the back ground Ron's dreamy speech, Ginny trying to get him to stay in his bed, but mostly Neville and Luna talking about Sirius' death.

They had told her what had happened while she was unconscious, and she had felt so many different emotions at the same time that it had been overwhelming; guilt, as she hadn't been able to help her best friend while in need; sadness, as she realized the loss Harry had once again to face, with Sirius' death, and the destruction of the prophecy; despair, as it seemed that the war would never end. But mostly doubt, as she felt the tiny shining object she had kept in her pocket, since she had grabbed it, and which she had identified as being a Time-Turner.

She had been cautious not to show it to anyone. She didn't know why, but she felt that she should keep it a secret. Maybe partly because she knew that Time-Turners were strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic, and even though it seemed all the Time-Turners had been destructed during the fight, it would do her no good to be seen with one of them, the last one, actually, in her possession. It was illegal, and potentially dangerous. Dangerous, because of the temptation. And dangerous because of its effects.

Worried about Harry, and knowing that her other friends were being taken care of, and that there was nothing she could do, she had snuck out as quietly as possible, not wanting to be told of by the nurse, leaving the marks War had to leave behind her.

He needed someone, she kept telling herself; someone had to be strong for him, for that one time, to allow him not to be The Boy Who Lived, and to stand as the teenager he was supposed to be, grieving the death of the only family he had found. But, as she couldn't find him, she came to realize that he was probably having a more than necessary talk with the Professor Dumbledore. As much as she respected the man, and the great wizard, she felt like keeping the prophecy thing away from Harry was a mistake. But the past was just that, past. And it couldn't be undone.

Well. Mostly. Probably.

No. Past couldn't, and wasn't to be undone.

She could feel the necklace, suddenly heavy again her chest, hot against her skin, calling her. Her pocket hadn't be sure enough. Keep your friend close, and your enemies closer, they said. That was what she was doing. Around her neck, she could keep it in check. She had the control. She had the power.

But which power?

She shook her head as she sat down. She didn't like it. She was losing her mind to this Time-Turner, as if it had took control. She couldn't allow that. She was slowly understanding why it was under such a strict control. She hadn't grabbed all the impacts of this so little object in her third year, when she was using it daily. But now, she did.

Time was power. And power was dangerous.

Time was dangerous when you needed it the most. She understood that. And now was a time when they all would have needed it. And she had to admit it was tempting. With just a flick of her hand, she would be able to defy time, and to change History at its very bases. The Past, Present and Future would be under her power. Her own and only power. She would be God.

And so many things were to be done. Or undone. She could see it. She could just got back a few hours back in time, to save Sirius. Better, she could go a few more hours back in time, to prevent them to throw themselves in You Know Who trap. A few days back in time, to prevent Cho from speaking under the Veritaserum to Umdrige. A few months back in time.. A few years back in time. Many years, back in time. Yes. She could.

She knew that the Time Turner had its limits, but she knew how much it could offer. And that was exactly from that she had to keep herself from. It would be too easy to fell the Mystery Time was.

She gently picked from under her shirt the small but yet powerful hourglass she couldn't bring herself to destroy. In truth, she knew she'd better to. But it felt terribly wrong to even think about it. So for now, she was keeping it.

She watched it glittered under the sunshine that broke through the threatening heavy clouds, mirroring the dark time ahead of the magical world; and the muggle world, too. It was delicate, fine piece of work. A tiny hourglass was embedded in a slim gold sheet, minutely engraved and punched, delimited by a golden ring. A second ring, slightly wider, surrounded it, only tied one to to the other by a ever so thin golden rod. The two rings could pivoted in opposite directions, allowing the hourglass to get overturn, the sand therefore flowing from one bulb to another.

Yes, it was a splendorous artwork. A dangerous, splendorous artwork. Why did Beauty and Danger always had to complete one another?

She wasn't sure if it was a trick from her mind or not, but it seemed smaller that the one she was temporarily given a few years ago. It might be because she was herself younger, and smaller, that it had seemed bigger, but deep inside, she knew she was just trying to reassure herself. Because she deeply felt that its reduced size hid a lot more power. As if it wasn't dangerous enough.

The sun stroked once more the golden surface she held in front of her, and a darker engraving caught her eyes, on the outside of the rings. Bringing it closer, she squinted her eyes, trying to decipher what looked like words, when she heard footsteps echoing behind her. She had no time to conceal the necklace under her shirt that her friend was siting right beside her. She saw his eyes getting wider as it fell on the hourglass, just before she could hid it again.

There was a silence, a heavy silence, that was both comforting and awkward.

-Harry, I'm- she softly said, before thinking twice about what she would say. I'm here for you, she finished, not looking at him.

She had been about to say 'sorry', but somehow she felt it wasn't what he was looking for. Everyone would be sorry. He didn't need pity, or what he would think as pity. After all those years, she had learned how he worked.

There was no answer at first, just both their slow breathing. From the corner of her eyes, she could see his face was still bloody, as he mustn't have taken the time to go to the Hospital Wing. But she didn't comment on it. He would brush it off.

-I know, he finally answered, in a tight voice.

They both stared at the sky for a while, the sun still fighting its way between the dark clouds, to no end.

-Is it really…

He didn't have to finish his sentence for her to understand what he was asking.

-Yes.

More silence.

-How? he hesitantly asked.

She could feel his stare on her, where the Time-Turner was, as she answered.

-After this one Death Eater got his … baby head, she explained, making a face as she remembered. Before leaving, I just saw it and, I don't know, I just had to…

-It was… It's the only one who didn't break when the cabinet crashed, she added, feeling the need to justify, as if it would justify her action.

They kept silence, listening to the wind rushing through the forest outside, some students running in a near hallway.

-Ron? And Luna? Neville?

-They're good. I supposed so. Madam Pomfrey was brewing a concoction for Ron when I left, she told him, watching him for the first time since she had been back from the Ministry.

He looked bad. His injury wasn't that serious, she could see it, as most of the blood was dry. It looked impressive, but it was merely superficial. No, he was fine. Physically. But she saw the look in his eyes. She met with a haunted look, empty hazy eyes that you stare through you, not seeing you. Not seeing anything. He looked as if there was nothing around him anymore. As is he was nothing anymore.

He had lost a lot the last few hours. He had lost a friend, a parent, a family. But he also, and most of all, had lost hope. Sirius Black might not have been the best of men, no matter what Hermione might have thought of him and his behavior towards and with Harry, he had brought back the teenager in his godson, and given him a proper reason for this war to end; just by existing, by his side. But with his death, that one hope was gone.

Hope. The only thing they could not afford to lose in those times of war.

-Harry..

-What?! he snapped, his eyes at least focused on her face.

She bit her lip, taken aback by his sudden mood change, but not wanting to react. She couldn't not exactly blame him. She didn't have the heart too.

-Nothing, she answered after a few seconds.

She didn't want to push him, but there wasn't much time to sulk neither. But she wasn't ready to ask him more sacrifices than he already had done. She would drop it for now. But she knew that one day soon, she would have to confront Harry to Sirius' death. They could not afford for their leader to lose his mind. That was exactly what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was waiting for.

-If only I had known, whimpered Harry, his hand over his eyes. If only I could…

He breathed in, slowly, and straightened up.

-It would have been so easy to save him… He looked straight into Hermione's eyes. It would be so easy, Hermione.

-No, no no no!

She had been happy that he had opened up to her - talking was the first step to acceptance then grieving-, but then, she had understood. She understood just too well, and she couldn't let it go on.

-Hermione…

-NO! Harry, no! No! she cried, her voice tight. No Harry, we can't! It's not… No, she tried to reason him gently, her face and her heart torn as she was obliged to deceive her best friend.

-Why not? Just a few turns and we would...

-And we would be facing ourselves, and all the Death Eaters and the Order! she finished her sentence, forcing her voice to be strong. We can't, Harry, and you know it! Don't you think I didn't pound on it since I learnt for Sirius? I know it's tempting, believe me, I feel the same, but there's no other way!

She didn't let him the time to interrupt her, and she went on.

-I cannot begin to imagine how you must be feeling right now, and if I could do something, I would give anything to help you, but there's nothing we can do for him now. Remember what Dumbledore told us, what I told you when we helped Sirius that one time! Time is not something we can take risk with…

-Hermione, you can't seriously expect me to accept this without saying anything! We did help him with a Time-Turner, and all odds were against her! I don't really see why not now! I mean, I'm sure we could come up with something…

She could see his face hardening, forcing his tears not to fall. And there was nothing she could do against it.

-No… she whispered softly, grabbing his face with her two hands as she forced him to look her in the eyes. We. Can't. Listen to me. If we save Sirius, why stop there? Why not catch out the Death Eaters at their own game? And then? Why not prevent him from getting revived by Pettigrew, last year? And then?

She released his head, letting her hands drop on her laps, as she saw it dawned on him.

-Don't you see? she was nearly imploring him to agree. There would be no end. There would be no way out of it. We. Can't. Do. Anything. I'm sorry.

He only smiled at her, a smile that held no joy, nor enthusiasm, juste acceptance.

-You should probably give it to Dumbledore… He would know what to do about it, he finally suggested, when the silence became too thick.

She only nodded. Harry was right. She should probably do as said. If she was in her right mind.

-Why did you take it in the first place, again?

-I haven't the faintest idea, she sighted, wondering where it would actually lead her.


	2. Update

Hello everyone!

First of all, I'd like to thank those of you who read the first chapter of this story. I hope it did interest some of you! If you didn't like it, please feel free to tell me what you disliked, for me to try and improve it.

Second, I wanted to keep you updated with, well, for the updates. As you could see, I was looking for a Beta to help me with my english in this story. Someone actually answered positively to me, so I'm hopeful with offering you as soon as possible more chapters of this story. Indeed, I will not update this fiction before my text going through beta-reading. I hate to read a text with grammar and mistake spelling in almost every word, I don't intend on imposing this to you.

Anyway. I hope I'll come back to you soon!

Bonne lecture!


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